Teach Primary Issue 19.6

www.teachwire.net | 49 L E ADERSH I P I have lost £70,000 frommy pension. No, it wasn’t down to Trump, and it wasn’t down to May, and it most certainly wasn’t down to risky investments or any banking crisis. In fact, I have lost £70k from one of the best and most secure pensions available in the UK – the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. The bad news is that I am not alone; take a look around your staffroom and anyone who has been in the same post for eight or more years has probably lost a similar amount, or even more if they have longer service at the same pay scale. [ Editor’s note: always check with your financial adviser before making any changes to your pension .] Are you joking? The problem was that I fell for the lie that so long as my pay kept going up and I kept paying in to the scheme, then my pension must get better. That is almost true. But it is in that gap left by the ‘almost’ that I have lost out so badly. If my pay had kept going up by more than inflation, then that is when the lie would have been true. But as we know, teachers’ pay has been in decline compared to inflation for decades. A UPS3 salary outside of London is, at the time of writing in THIS WAY! School improvement advice for headteachers and SLT MIDDLE LEADERS | CPD | SUBJECT LEADERSHIP Do you know how your pension is CALCULATED? “It’s not too late to do something to stop the rot”